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Monday, 24 November 2014

Parent Teacher Interview: I Hope You Stay Silly

From Frack's book: Then they are all done fighting. They eat then watch TV.

The following is an excerpt from my meeting with Frack's teacher and some of the things that were going through my mind at the time:

"Frack seems to be doing much better since we last spoke, Mrs. Rotten." says Madame.

"Oh good, I'm glad to hear that." I say.

"Yes, he is learning that he isn't getting anywhere with his silliness. I refuse to give him any attention for that."

"I see."

When Frack was about three years old he started wearing super hero capes and bright yellow rubber boots everywhere. He wouldn't go anywhere without them: bus rides, grocery store, bank. We used to hide the rubber boots on him because they made his feet so stinky. We had to draw the line and not let him wear the capes to school because his teacher said they were too distracting.
"He also seems to be letting go of his need to always have a smart answer."

"Smart answer? As in 'sarcastic'?"

"Something like that. It's like he's looking for attention by saying silly things."

"Like what?"

"Well when we had our Roots of Empathy volunteer, she asked the children 'What might be a nice thing to do with a baby?' And Frack answered, 'Put it on a leash and take it for a walk.' "

"You should know, Mrs. Rotten, that I don't tolerate any silliness in my classroom."

"Of course."

"Yellow and Brown Man makes everything yellow and brown."

"I have had a very difficult time with this particular class. They have no idea of respect. I cannot tell you how upsetting it is to have the gym teacher come to me, for the first time ever, to say 'I can see how you're going to have your hands full with this lot.'" (She looks at me significantly)

"That must have been very difficult for you."

"It was."

Frack got a note home a few weeks ago, informing me that he had been "disrespectful" in class. I was actually really proud of him because it was literally the first thing he said to me when he got home from school. He told me before I had to find the note in his agenda when usually he would try to hide it from me. After much questioning, it turns out all he did was "make a funny noise" while sitting down. I can see how that is silly but disrespectful?

"Speaking of 'respect', you wrote me a note a little while ago about Frack being disrespectful in class. What was that about? I'm not sure I got all the information from him."

"Oh, I don't know. I wasn't there. I was just letting you know what the librarian told me."

"Okay. I tried telling him not to do whatever it was he was doing but it would have been better if I had more information."

"I'm sorry about that. But as I said, Frack is making excellent progress. He now understands that there is no place for his antics in my classroom. He's much better at staying at his desk and isn't the whirling dervish he used to be. He's doing very good work and he no longer says he can't understand me.

"Well that's good to hear."

Future Frack is forming a badass fighting team for Now Frack. They correspond via snail mail. Frack is very proud of his My Little Pony Collection and likes to show them off to visitors.Frack adores his baby cousin, and all babies for that matter. He touches her cheek and tells me, "Babies are for loving."Frack has been "in love" with the same little girl for over a year. He writes "Frack + Z" on just about every available surfaceFrack is obsessed with writing books. He is constantly begging for paper and asking how to spell things.Is it bad that I don't want her to tame him? Is it bad that I want him to stay silly?I hope you never change, Baby Boy.